Easy Method Spicy Tomato Juice to Enjoy Now and Later (Using a Juice Extractor)

This morning I had an 8:30 AM appointment with our "EGG MAN" Harry B.  Harry asked yesterday if I could use more tomatoes to can and of course I was happy he did!  Never did I dream he would have near a 100 pounds waiting for me!  WELL, HE DID!

SO.........I have just finished hauling 18 bags filled to the brim of fresh, picked yesterday, red ripe and juicy, Indiana home grown tomatoes out of the Durango and into the house!

(And I was going to start my sewing today.)

Harry also shared with me his neighbors tried and true quicker and easier way of making tomato juice and canning it for winter.  This is great as I have never had a great love for the food mill.  Plus, I do own a nice juice extractor I had never thought of using in this way.

Use this method adjusting for any quantity of tomatoes on hand and to your taste.  If you do not like the spicy version just omit the peppers.  1 teaspoon of salt is pretty standard per quart of juice and I like fresh lemon juice but bottled will so, use 2 Tablespoons per quart.

Easier Home Canned Tomato Juice:

Scald glass canning jars and caps and lids.  Keep the lids and caps in simmering water until ready to use.  Sterilize glass canning jars.

Assemble juice extractor, large stock pots or soup kettles. hot pads, spoons, ladles, measuring spoon, and funnel, clean towels, and paper towels.

Wash the tomatoes.  Quarter the larger ones to fit into the intake chute of your juice extractor.  Have a large plastic liner in a basket handy to empty the pulp in to discard.

Place the tomatoes through the extractor measuring the juice and emptying it into the stock pot.  Season with salt, lemon juice, hot peppers, and anything else your family likes.  Harry uses 3-4 hot peppers per quart.  Whew!

Bring the juice to a boil and simmer at a minimum 10 minutes as you skim the top for foam.

I try to time this so the canning jars are just coming out of my dishwasher from the sanitize cycle, the caps and lids are simmering away, and the juice is simmering.   Now when all is ready fill the hot jars and cap, being sure you wipe the jar edges clean and leave 1/2" head space.  Harry said he processes 5 minutes but his neighbor does not process at all.  Most recipes advise processing between 10 and 45 minutes in a water bath with 1" of water above the lid tops.  Start the timer AFTER the water has come to a full rolling boil.

When the processing is complete cool the jars sitting on clean tea towels for 24 hours.  Store for up to a year in a cool dark place.

NOTE:  This is from my first test batch and I used  my large soup kettle and about 12-15 pounds of tomatoes which yielded 5 quarts of juice.  I added  1 1/2 jalapeno peppers to this batch along with the salt and lemon juice.  It was mildly spicy, you tasted the peppers but it did not burn.  Just an FYI in case you were wondering.  Now off to do more, 16 more sacks of tomatoes await me.

FOLLOW UP COMMENT:  The tomato juice made with my extractor tended to have less body, pulp as does have traditionally made tomato juice.  The first batch had more than the second batch.  I think the difference came on my patience level and the skimming process.  The first batch I simmered longer and I think there was less "foam" to skim than the second batch.  Then I remembered my friend Joyce making it this way and having a similar outcome.  It still tasted like tomato juice it is the the consistency and color that differs.  After 2 additional batches of juice I switched to straight canning the tomatoes netting about 50 quarts of tomato product.